Arkansas caps trip at McNeese State

LAKE CHARLES, La. – After its opening weekend of Southeastern Conference play, the No. 16 University of Arkansas baseball team opens a midweek series Tuesday at McNeese State. Game one is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start from Cowboy Diamond in Lake Charles, La. Wednesday’s finale is also set to begin at 6:30 p.m.Arkansas (13-5, 1-2 SEC) comes into the two-game set after dropping two of three at LSU during the conference-opening weekend. The Razorbacks took game one, 6-3, but the Tigers came away with victories in the final two contests. Brett Eibner supplied the power for the Hogs with three home runs-two in the opener-including one that cleared the Alex Box Stadium scoreboard. Zack Cox also continued his hot start to the 2010 season, extending his hitting streak to 18 games.Cox leads the club with his .405 batting average, the fifth-best mark in the SEC. Andy Wilkins hit his team-leading seventh home run of the season in the series opener against LSU. He also paces the Razorbacks with five doubles and 22 RBI. At the top of the lineup, Collin Kuhn carries a .333 batting average with three home runs, 19 RBI and 21 runs scored. As a team, Arkansas has a .285 batting average.On the mounds, the Razorbacks will start Randall Fant in Tuesday’s opener. It will be the second start of the season for the freshman left hander. In his first outing, Fant pitched three innings of shutout ball with three strikeouts and no hits allowed. The Hogs are third in the conference with a 3.21 team ERA.Arkansas and McNeese State (8-9) have met five times with the Razorbacks holding a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series. In the last meeting between the two teams, Arkansas swept a two-game series played in Fayetteville during the 2004 season. Before that, the Cowboys took of three during a 2002 series at Baum Stadium. Assistant coach Todd Butler spent three seasons (2001-03) as the head coach of the McNeese program.

Fans can listen to this week’s action on the Razorback Sports Network from ISP. Chuck Barrett will be in the booth as the network’s play-by-play announcer. There will also be an audio stream available at the online home of Razorback athletics, ArkansasRazorbacks.com.

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